


The wait

by Elisexyz



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Episode: s04e10 XXXVIII., Introspection, M/M, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21732025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisexyz/pseuds/Elisexyz
Summary: For years, Thomas survives.
Relationships: Captain Flint | James McGraw/Thomas Hamilton
Comments: 20
Kudos: 59





	The wait

**Author's Note:**

> Don't mind me, I'll just be crying in a corner about Thomas alone for a decade in the plantation of shame.

For years, Thomas survives. It could not be called living, not when he and dozens of other men like him merely put one foot in front of the other, carrying themselves far out enough to see the dawn of a new day.

He sees hope vanishing from the eyes of many around him, because it sooner or later becomes clear to all that there is no escaping a plantation meant to turn them to ghosts, that none of them have the means to accomplish it. Some days, Thomas feels hope slipping away from his own fingers too.

He keeps going. Somewhere inside him, it’s like he is waiting for something, perhaps for a shred of light that he can still imagine lies ahead, if too far out for him to spy it yet. He just needs to get there.

The day James comes is one like many others, identical to the one before and the one before that, unremarkable in any way. Except for the tingle in his skin when he feels like he is being observed, prompting him to turn around and come face to face with features that are ridiculously familiar, for a man that looks so different from what he remembers.

Thomas never had a talent for drawing, though he spent many days wishing for a way to trap the face of his loved ones on paper, so the memory would stop blurring in his head. When he sees James, he can only stare, searching for familiarity and unable to tell if he is only imagining it, if his lovers’ face getting clearer and clearer in his memories as the seconds pass is only his ever hopeful imagination at work, finally finding something to hold onto, a stranger that happens to resemble a face dear to him.

Yet, James stands still, hands twitching and expression fearful, and Thomas knows somewhere in his chest that that’s him, it can only be him, as he gets transported back to a time when James was unsure, shy, tip-toeing around Thomas as if fearing that everything would shatter if he dared too much.

(A well-founded fear, in retrospect, just not in the way that James had meant it.)

Thomas laughs, a disbelieving sound tearing through every doubt he ever had, his feet launching him forward without another moment of hesitation, everything in him rejoicing when he finds a real, solid body pressed against him, as real as the ground beneath his feet, as warm as in his dreams.

 _Here he is_ , Thomas’ heart sings, his fingers clasping James’ shirt and another laugh erupting from his chest. _That’s what you’ve been waiting for_.

Nothing else has ever been as worth a painfully long wait.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates comments, including: 
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will appreciate it but not respond!


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